Wednesday, November 14, 2007

credit report - You Could Have Bad Personal Credit History and Not Even Know It

Personal bad credit can be a big problem for anyone in todays world. By carrying a bad credit rating you're risking the likely hood that you'll be able to receive credit cards, loans, mortgages, or even purchase a new car. Banks and companies can almost smell a poor credit rating, next thing you know you'll find yourself being rejected from places and things you were unaware you could be rejected from. You could say that own a bad credit rating is todays equivalent to having leprosy.

Now there is some good news about this, carrying bad personal credit is fixable, while leprosy isn't. For some times it's as easy as catching up on late bills, while other times it can take some time. No matter how poor your credit might be there are always steps to take to improve it. If you find yourself being rejected for loans, credit cards and other forms of consumer or personal credit the chances are you might be carrying bad personal credit.

Before jumping to conclusions about poor credit the first step is identifying whether you indeed have poor credit or not. The easiest place to start is with your credit report. Numerous websites will provide you with a copy of your credit report. Some sites seem a little shady, while others can do provide good insight into your credit history, and offer explanations for why you have a poor personal credit rating. Ideal companies to consider for credit report are Experian and Equifax.

Quite often individuals with poor credit after reviewing their credit report discover that it's simply because of forgetting a bill or two and leaving it unpaid. Companies and businesses attempting to collect late bills hire collection agencies to force you pay up. While they do retrieve the money for the creditor they also take a hard shot at your credit rating and report. Now it is proper for collection agencies to contact you before placing a judgment against you, sometimes it can be difficult to get in touch with the you. If this does occur you might find there is a mark against you for an honest forgotten bill that you were totally un aware of.

Now of course this isn't always the case, and it can be more complicated than a single forgotten bill. If it's not a simple fix then their there is likely some work that needs to be done on your part for credit repair. Settling old debts is the first step, but then also keeping a consistent payment record, and clean rating for several months will help to reestablish your credit rating. Now there is one other issue that can be the equivalent of having a poor personal credit rating, and that's not having any credit at all. Think back to when you first applied for a credit card and had no personal credit history built up at all. Whether you've had a past credit history, or you're attempting to establish some positive credit history a good rule of thumb is to get a secured credit card, and be religious about paying it off in full each month.

If you want to learn more about how to repair bad credit and how your credit report is the key to bad credit repair visit our website.

Article Source:http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ian_Henman

credit report - UK Credit Ratings

In the United Kingdom, your credit rating - like in most other places - determines the amount of money you can borrow for a mortgage or refinancing. If you have a bad credit report, your chances of getting a loan in the UK are slim. The UK uses Equifax, Experian and Transunion to calculate credit scores. Like in the US, you can log on to their websites to take a look at your credit report. The report has everything in it that lenders look at before they agree to lend you money.

In the UK, your payment history accounts for 35% of your score, followed by the amounts you owe, the length of your credit history, new credit that you have and the types of credit that you use. If your credit rating is high, it means that you will get loans faster, credit decisions in your favor are made faster, there is more credit available to you and interest rates will be much lower because of your good credit.

If you do have paid credit, as in the US is it advised that you start paying your bills on time, because the longer you pay them on time, the better your score will become. Also, keep your credit account balances low, and always pay more than the minimum amount due each month.

Other UK tips to raise your credit score include registering to vote, space out your applications for credit, don't move before you apply, and prove that you have stability by owning a home, not be self-employed and having a fixed land phone number rather than a mobile phone number.

No comments: